The present invention generally relates to devices for surface cleaning and preparation processes and apparatuses associated with vehicular assembly processes.
In order to attain an effective and aesthetically pleasing finished vehicle surface that also protects against rust and corrosion, the underlying substrate must be effectively free of foreign material including, but not limited to, foreign dust particles, dirt particles, lint, oils and the like during various phases of surface treatment and assembly. To achieve a suitable durable substrate surface to which various paints and finishes can adhere, the body-in-white is coated with various corrosion inhibiting and/or adhesion promoting finishes. A body-in-white or BIW refers to a stage in automotive design or manufacture prior to painting in which the sheet metal components of the car have been welded together but moving parts have not been added. The body-in-white can be subjected to various operations and processes associated with the ultimate vehicle assembly. Various types of foreign material can adhere to the body-in-white as a result of these operations.
In order to provide an effective surface finish, the body-in-white is provided with a suitable adhesion promoting coating or surface treatment prior to painting and/or finish coating. Such materials include, but are not limited to, processes and materials collectively referred to as e-coating. In order for e-coating processes to be effective, the substrate surface must be free from foreign material contamination to extremely close tolerances. Various processes and surface cleaning methods have been proposed to remove most, if not all, foreign material prior to e-coating procedures. Various automated mechanical and vacuum surface cleaning processes have been proposed and attempted. However, the various attempts have met with varying degrees of limited success either in the effectiveness in the removal of foreign material and/or in the risk of damaging or scarring surface of the body-in-white during surface cleaning operations.
Certain regions of the body-in-white pose greater challenges for achieving surfaces that are sufficiently free of foreign material for e coating and/or other surface finish processes. These include, but are not limited to, upwardly oriented surfaces such as the roof region of the body-in-white. It would be desirable to provide an efficient and effective automated method and apparatus that can remove foreign material and surface oil and dirt from a body-in-white without damaging the integrity of the body-in-white surface. More particularly, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for removing foreign material such as dirt and oil from the roof surface of a body-in-white.